Story submitted from Frog Song Farm Sanctuary.
We instantly agreed when asked to rescue donkeys on their way to an unfortunate future. We don’t exactly know how this unlucky band of five mamas and their babies were rounded up and headed off but we were given the opportunity to give them a better future with little time left on the clock.
We were in Georgia but it was January and a freak snow storm with very cold weather had hit. I almost cried when we got to the “barn” where the donkeys were being housed overnight. It looked to be in danger of falling down, with cold wind and snow blowing in everywhere. There was a small band of donkeys huddled in the corner – obviously terrified and confused. Fortunately, other rescues had been found for the remaining mother/baby pairs. With some difficulty, we separated and loaded a mother and her attached son who appeared to be about 6 months old.
Only after we began separating and loading the donkeys did we see that there was one lone, terrified little jack who was not attached to a mother. It was not in our plan to take another donkey but there was no way we were leaving him behind. These donkeys were pretty feral and who could blame them – we knew nothing about their history but it was clear they hadn’t being shown any kindness at this awful place. After some haggling we were allowed to load our little orphaned jack onto our trailer and before we even got him home, I had named him little Orphan Andy.
All three of these donkeys were skinny, wild and terrified of people. We named the mama donkey Anna and her son, Rudy. Thankfully, Anna quickly accepted Andy as her second son and Rudy was happy to have a brother and best friend. After Andy’s tough start in life, he was wary of people but we could see in his eyes that he wanted to trust us. We took it very slowly and Andy started to blossom. When he first arrived, he would run to the furthest corner of the pasture when he saw us coming but, within a couple of months, he was actually greeting us at the gate.
About six months after Anna, Rudy and Andy were rescued, Anna gave birth to our “bonus baby,” Sam. These four donkeys are inseparable and frequently “sing” together which is why we nicknamed them the Doo-Wop Donkeys. So sweet, orphaned Andy went from cold, lonely and frightened to his forever home with his donkey family and he’s the happiest, friendliest donkey you will ever meet.
“Frog Song Farm Sanctuary is a 501c3 non-profit sanctuary where farm animals get their second chance. Our sanctuary sits on 107 acres of rolling pasture land in Hodges, South Carolina with three ponds, a comfortable barn, multiple shelters for the animals and lots of green grass for grazing (and frolicking!) Our goal is not to be the biggest sanctuary or have the most animals but to provide the very best personalized, hands on care for each of the animals who comes to live with us. They will never again be hungry, abused, neglected or unloved. We are currently home to horses, donkeys, llamas, goats, cows, ducks, chickens, pigs, barn cats, several very spoiled dogs.”
